Electronic Payments

Electronic Payment Methods

Traditional card payments

You can accept cards online by processing it as a "card not present" transaction - where the card owner isn't there to sign the slip.

There are three main aspects to a traditional card payment:

• Merchant service - this is the generic term for the service provided by banks that allows you to "swipe" credit and debit cards at your place of business.

• PDQ machine - a generic term for the machine that is used to "swipe" a credit or debit card. They can be rented for about £12.50 per month with a £125 start-up fee.

• Acquiring bank - once you have "swiped" the card, the customer"s details are passed to an acquiring bank for processing. The acquiring bank checks the details of the card and authorises the transaction. The acquiring bank is the bank that provides your merchant service.